Patrice Bernier’s wife might have been the happiest woman in Montreal Thursday night.

On Aug. 5, after the Impact captain started on the bench — again — during a 1-1 tie against the New York Red Bulls at Saputo Stadium, Bernier’s wife — Melisa Barile — wasn’t happy. She went on Facebook and accused coach Frank Klopas and the club of showing a lack of respect and loyalty toward her husband.

“If you aren’t starting tonight, Patrice Bernier, it is simply ridiculous, unacceptable, disrespectful, but most of all wrong on the part of your coach,” Barile wrote.

She added it might be time for the 36-year-old Bernier to “go elsewhere, where you will be appreciated and will get treated fairly.”

On Aug. 30, with the Impact looking unlikely to make the playoffs with an 8-11-4 record, Klopas was fired and replaced by Mauro Biello.

On Thursday night — after the club went 7-2-2 under Biello to finish the regular season — Bernier was a surprise addition to the starting 11 for the Impact’s knockout-stage playoff game against Toronto FC at Saputo Stadium. Bernier had only started six games all season and played in 20 of 34 regular-season matches. He didn’t score a goal.

But after playing like a man on a mission from the opening kickoff, Bernier took a beautiful pass from Ignacio Piatti in the 19th minute and beat Toronto FC goalkeeper Chris Kinopka from in close to give the Impact a 1-0 lead, take a lot of pressure off the home team and really get the crowd of 18,069 into the game.

“Allez Montréal” they sang loud and proud.

In the 34th minute, Piatti took advantage of Toronto defender Josh Williams falling down while taking a simple pass from a teammate to break in alone and beat Kinopka from in close again.

Five minutes later, Didier Drogba scored his 12th goal in 12 games for the Impact and this one was basically over.

Final score: Montreal 3, Toronto 0.

Montreal Impact’s Didier Drogba, left, celebrates after scoring against the Toronto FC as teammate Dilly Duka looks on during first half Major League Soccer sudden death playoff game in Montreal on Thursday, October 29, 2015.

The Impact now advances to a two-game, aggregate-goals Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Columbus Crew, with the first game at 7 p.m. Sunday at Saputo Stadium. Game 2 will be the following Sunday in Columbus. The Impact and Crew met twice during the regular season with Montreal winning both times, 2-1 in Columbus and 3-0 at Saputo Stadium.

After coming off the bench late in the Impact’s final regular-season game last Sunday at Saputo Stadium — a 2-1 win over Toronto FC to clinch home-field advantage for the knockout-stage game — Bernier received a loud reception from the Montreal fans.

“What can I say … it’s nice,” he said the next day at practice. “It’s heartfelt. It’s nice to get that push because when you come on the field (off the bench) it’s not easy. But to know that you have that support behind you, the support from the club and from the fan base, allows me to believe that I still got a lot to give and I still want to pay back to the people that give me that support.”

He paid them back big-time Thursday night.

“I had a shot to play and help the team,” the captain said in a jubilant locker room after the game while Drogba and other teammates danced to some very loud African music. “It’s always special to play against Toronto and it was a do-or-die game. And I like to play these games. As I get a little bit older you don’t get to play them that often … they don’t come that often in a career, so just try to do as best as I could to help the team.”

Bernier took Johan Venegas’s spot in the starting lineup as a central midfielder. When it was mentioned to Bernier that he looked 10 years younger the way he was running on the pitch, he replied: “I told you before, the games when I get a chance to speak with my feet, that’s what I’m going to do. The rest I don’t control. I’m just happy to have been able to play, play well and help the team.”

When the enthusiastic crowd — which was a couple of thousand short of a sellout — wasn’t belting out “Allez Montréal” it was singing “Didier Drogba! Tra-la-la-la-la.” And Drogba didn’t let them down with yet another goal on an assist from Bernier. After Drogba finished dancing in the locker room and the music was turned down, he praised Bernier.

“He was great,” Drogba said. “His goal was fantastic. He’s a true leader of this team. I’m really happy for him because he had some difficult moments, but he never gave up … never. That’s why he’s our captain, that’s why he’s our leader.”

The Impact — like the city it represents — has a beautiful international flavour. The starting 11 Thursday night included three Americans (goalkeeper Evan Bush, defender Donny Toia and midfielder Dilly Duka), two Argentinians (defender Victor Cabrera and midfielder Piatti), a Cameroonian (defender Ambroise Oyongo), a Belgian (defender Laurent Ciman), an Englishman (midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker), an Italian (midfielder Marco Donadel) and an Ivorian (Drogba). Bernier, the captain, grew up in Brossard on the South Shore of Montreal, while Biello, the coach, grew up on the other side of the Champlain Bridge in N.D.G.

While it’s an international club, the Impact got its heartbeat from a couple of Montrealers.

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